Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-01-30
NORFOLK PEANUT MARKET.
THRIFTY MARY SHAW.
She Got Along Nicely on Her Dakota


v =. - ''~-f~
She Got Along Nicely on Her Dakota
Farm.
Some time ago, writes q jamestown
Okla correspondent Of the New York
Sun. there arrived in this city q young
woman who gave her name as Mary
shaw. who said that she had come here
for the purpose Of taking UP some land:
She had several hundred dollars, and
though il was Thought strange that she
would want 30 embark on the hard life
of o Dakota farmer in the fall Of tho
wear. il was admitted that she was
woman of pluck. and that, as she had
some means, she would probably suc-
coed. As it happened, q man
who had taken mp land lev
miles south OF here wanted N
sell. and with him Mary Shaw made .
bargain. taking his farm and house a. u
stood and moving in with the determi-
nation of living there all winter In tho
course of time some of the men here.
sbouts who are matrimonially inclined
began to notice Mary's thrift and indus
try. and. as she was companionable,
she never lacked for admirers. She
WAS not 10 be easily captured. however.
Admirers young and old all Jared about
the same. Such "a mustered upcourage
enough to pop the question were pus
of with joking answer, and all who
undertook TO find out Just who abe WAS
Jared even more unsatisfactory. She
had no confidants Of either sex, aud "a
winter came on she kept things SHIP
shape and said nothing rs 10 her antcce-
dents.
II has since been learned that Shay
is not her name. She was runaway
wife when she came here. and her home
I'M. been out in Wyoming, where her
husband was well-to-do cattle-grower.
One day in the early autumn she WA
rummaging through his coat-pockets
for something and discovered letter
there from woman whom she thought
she had reason to be jealous OF. Her
husband was then off on his ranch, aud
would not he back for several weeks.
Hermind was made up in a minute. Born
and raised in the far West, she was
possessed of an independent spirit and
"a tOuItRt ~ 1850 tssso---
envy. The house in which she lived
was in her own name, and finding
purchaser she sold it as it stood, wrote
a letter 10 her husband that he would
never see her again, and left for parts
unknown After brief stay in Lin
coin. Neb., she went to Chicago, where
she spent "a week or two, and from that
city she came directly here. she had
read Of women who had come into Da-
kota and made successful efforts ut
farming. and she had resolved to try
the experiment, thinking that here she
would find livelihood as well as free
dom from search by her husband.
The mystery which seemed TO sur
round her only made the interest OF tho
jim River beaux the greater, and il she
had not been woman of rare good
sense and tolembly diplomatic in her
way she might have been annoyed be-
yond measure by them. As il was she
took all the attention paid her in good
part, and the chivalry OF the valley
voted her the handsomest woman IN
the Territory. Two weeks ago tall
and Incorporating man arrived here,
and, without stating his mission, began
AN inspection of all the farms Eng
within ten miles of town. He ms
To have found what he was looking Tor
at Mary Shaw's house. t9r. after Calling
i there one day, he returned TO town anu
did not leave his hotel again except as
he journeyed once day TO her place
in the country. II has now leaked out
that the stranger is the woman's hus-
band, and that he has made All expla-
nation of the presence and the contents
of the letter, which is highly satisfac-
tory To his wife
The letter wa written TO him by the
woman in question, AZ 1t appeared h
have been, but it was never answered,
and there had been nothing in his con
| duct which warranted such familiarity
on her part II had been his intention
| 10 show bis wife the missiye, but in tho
hurry of preparing for his extended
trip over bis ranch he had forgotten II.
Feeling that his wife had done herself
and him an injustice, he had spared no
pains in tracing her out AT first he
found the search most difficult one,
but in Chicago he had got clue and
had followed il successfully After the
reconciliation IL became a question
what wonld be done with the farm here.
| The Young woman wanted to keep II.
and her husband, finding that there
was a mortgage on IL, cleared that mp
and leased it before leaving for the
West
The last evening that the couple
spent in the little farm house il 10 hap
pened that two of Mary Shaw's regular
admirers called just to see il there was
anything that they could do for her.
They were received with the customary
grace, and after little while were in
troduced TO her husband, who greeted
them cordially and said be guessed he
would have tO take her home, where
the work was easier. One of the callers,
an old fellow, was 50 overcome with
amazcment and chagrin that he
became almost speeches., though
he finally found words 10 say
that he congratulated the gentleman
on having so lovely wife. He had sup
| posed that she was single, and il she had
been he was free to admit that he would
have stood on his head in r blizzard for
twenty-four hours il by that means he
could have won her. The other was a
young man, and his only remark as he
wished the couple good night was 10
hope that they would have a safe jour
ney home. All this happened In 40
short space of time that il was not
until the couple had gone that the facts
leaked ont, and since that the little
farmhouse, now occupied by Swsde.
has been visited every day by d6yen
or more people curious TO see the n nee
where the thing Of which they Have
heard 50 much happened. Ii is said
that the westerners will visit the farm
next summer--that the young woman
said so when she was leaving-and il
they do they viii be received by the en-
tire population.
HI sAkS'S kDNERTIsENe<sr